AES/EBU cable - recommendations?

[Unclemonty]

Hi - I want to connect my D Premier to forthcoming Auralic Aries, using the AES/EBU connection. Anyone have any recommendations for that cable type? Thanks, Paul

[jjo]

Sorry about offtopic, but is Auralic Aries already available somewhere?

[GuillaumeB]

Hi - I want to connect my D Premier to forthcoming Auralic Aries, using the AES/EBU connection. Anyone have any recommendations for that cable type? Thanks, Paul

Hi Paul! Welcome to Devialet Chat by the way!

The best AES/EBU cable that I've heard to date in my own system (and now own) is the Transparent XL. It's not cheap though, retailing at over £3k in the UK. Previously I owned a Chord Sarum Tuned Aray which was excellent too. I'd also recommend trying the Sablon AES/EBU which is a fantastic cable and costs a fraction of the price of the others.

I'd recommend trying to home dem as many as possible.

As an aside I look forward to hearing your impressions of the Auralic Aries.

Guillaume

[Unclemonty]

Thanks for the recommendations Gullaume, although £3k might be a bit beyond what I was thinking of spending.....

Re the Aries - I don't have one yet. Forthcoming = on order from dealer. Not sure when it will arrive, soon hopefully otherwise I will likely spend my money elsewhere I think. Regards

[GuillaumeB]

Thanks for the recommendations Gullaume, although £3k might be a bit beyond what I was thinking of spending.....

Re the Aries - I don't have one yet. Forthcoming = on order from dealer. Not sure when it will arrive, soon hopefully otherwise I will likely spend my money elsewhere I think. Regards

Best of luck with that. Otherwise I can wholeheartedly recommend the MiND 180. I spoke to Simaudio and they confirmed that DSD was on the cards although not in 2014... seems like a long wait given that some of their other products are already being made DSD compatible.

The Auralic Aries does look fantastic though and I've read one or two very positive reviews, in Chris Connaker's (the Computer Audiophile) words when reporting from Munich: "The Aries and its accompanying iOS application seriously blew me away". Did you go for the one with the improved power supply? I also like the fact that the Aries uses Linn's Openhome implementation of UPnP.

On the subject of AES/EBU cables there are lots of good cables at many price points. I've even heard good reports of the Mogami Gold AES/EBU which retails for a few hundred dollars. Like I said get a dealer to lend you a few and have some fun (and report back here of course!).

Guillaume

[Rufus McDufus]

I agree with Guillaume! I luckily snagged a secondhand Transparent Reference XL based on what I heard with his system. I got an SPDIF though and I personally think AES is slightly better. Still, tightwads can't always be choosers.

I've tried the Sablon too and it is brilliant. I also had a chance to compare AES with SPDIF types with Devialet and Moon MiND, and the AES was better too. The Sablon digital cable has the benefit of being about 1/4 or 1/5 of the price of the TA too!

Prior to that I used (and still have) a Lessloss AES which is pretty good, but not so good with complex music. It is incredibly 'focused' though and is great for detail as everything is pin sharp. It might work well with other electronics. Oh and prior to that I had a Wireworld Starlight 5 (I think) which came with my s/h MiND. It's not great unfortunately.

Would be interesting to hear some of the budget ones such as the Mogami Gold.

[jjo]

Actually, some more offtopic. I tried MiND 180D for a quite a long while and even though I like the hardware, I have to say that I didn't feel the software was up to par with my expectations. The update cycle was slow, functionality missing and update procedure slightly complicated. But what It could do it did well, obviously.

I was tempted but not quite enough.

[Rufus McDufus]

Actually, some more offtopic. I tried MiND 180D for a quite a long while and even though I like the hardware, I have to say that I didn't feel the software was up to par with my expectations. The update cycle was slow, functionality missing and update procedure slightly complicated. But what It could do it did well, obviously.

I was tempted but not quite enough.

I'm not a fan of the MiND app, I have to admit. I use Linn's Kinsky or Kazoo with it (and a BubbleUPNP Openhome queue on my Qnap for the control point to work). The MiND app just doesn't seem to work very well on my iPad for some reason, but I've seen it work just fine on other peoples iPads. Weird.

Unfortunately a lot of hifi suffers poor software so I tend to be unsurprised!

[jjo]

I have high hopes for Aries. I'm actually trying out their iPad app right now. It seems to work with UPnP devices in general, so I assume it could be used for 180D as well.

[ErikM]

I've heard very good things about the new-ish Shunyata AES cables